Caring Sister
by CrazyLikeArt
Summary: "She's my baby sister and I'll protect her and take care of her and be there for her, always. I promise." AU, Elsa is much older when her sister Anna is born.
1. New Princess

Do you know that artist that draws adorable pictures of Elsa and Anna with a huge age gap between them? Well, here is a fic.  
Brush your teeth when you're done. And don't expect too much in terms of plot, I really just want to have something cute to cuddle with.  
And to the poor souls who are still waiting an update for my NF fics... I'll get back to them. I just have to stop hating what I re-read of what I wrote.

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**Chapter 1: New princess.**

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Elsa winced as a loud scream of pain reverberated in the hall. She was sitting on a couch next to the door leading into the room the scream came from, wringing her hands in anxiety. In front of her, her father was displaying the same restlessness by pacing back and forth and sending a glance to the door every time he turned around to retrace his steps.

"How much longer do you think it'll be?" she asked trying desperately to distract herself.

Her father paused in his nervous pacing and ran a hand through his hair, he gave her only a brief look before his eyes returned to staring at the door. "It's been four hours already," he unnecessarily said, as if Elsa herself hadn't been there from the start like him. "It shouldn't be much longer. Another hour at most, if it's anything like it was with you. But it might take several hours more, it's never a sure thing…"

Another scream made the blonde girl close her eyes and gulp as she gripped the couch she was sitting on. This whole experience was quickly becoming the most scary she had ever gone through, and the thought that the end might still be nowhere near in sight was terrifying. Every minute she had to wait, she couldn't help thinking something was going to go wrong.

"Elsa, calm down." Her father's voice reached her ears, making her look up and meet his gaze which was now on her . His eyes went to her hands for a moment and, following his line of sight, she saw that ice was spreading from where she was holding onto the couch in a death grip.

Elsa growled in frustration at her lapse of control and released her hold on the settee. She took a deep breath before waving her hand and dispelling the ice, as well as restoring the temperature in the hall to its previous state, earning a proud smile from her father, which she timidly returned.

It usually was not too hard to keep her powers under control, she could even remember a time in her childhood when it was as natural as breathing, but as she aged the magic inside her kept growing with her and sometimes she couldn't hold it in, particularly when she was startled or in distress. Thankfully, her sporadic slips never resulted in anything worse than ruined books and broken ceramics and glassware, all of which were easily replaceable. Everything else she froze could usually survive the experience and be returned to its previous pristine condition by dispelling her magic with a simple wave of her hand. It was a lucky thing too since, even with the help of Kai and Gerda, the personal attendants and stewards of the royal family as well as the chiefs of the staff, having to replace frozen furniture would have made keeping her powers secret exceptionally difficult.

Speaking of Gerda, right at that moment the plump woman opened the door the king and the princess of Arendelle had been waiting by, allowing the blessed sounds of a new life's wailing coming from inside the room to be clearly heard. It didn't take anything more to prompt Agdar to run into the room, Elsa following him somewhat hesitantly.

Gerda bowed as she passed her and closed the door behind her after exiting the room.

In the chamber, on a king-size bed, laid the queen, looking exhausted but happy, holding a bundle of blankets wrapped around her loudly crying newborn baby. "It's a girl," she announced with bright eyes and a loving smile.

Agdar didn't waste time in sitting on the bed beside his wife and taking a closer look to his second daughter. He could already see that the few hairs she had were the same colors as his, unlike her elder sister's almost white hair which were entirely her own. Another difference from her elder sister was apparently how loud the new addition to their family could be. Granted, she was only a baby, but he didn't remember Elsa ever being so enthusiastic about informing the whole kingdom about how healthy her lungs were. Of course, he had more sense than to say so out loud, and besides, the joy of having another healthy child was eclipsing anything else at the moment.

As for Elsa, she as standing a couple of steps from the bed, petrified, eyes fixed on the smallest life and biggest miracle she had ever seen in her fifteen years of life. It was breathtaking, terrifying, amazing, unbelievable… It was her little sister. Elsa could feel herself going numb as her thoughts went into overdrive, which a tiny, detached part of her mind was grateful for since it prevented her from panicking and freezing the castle. She took a step forward.

"Hey Anna, look. That's your big sister there," Idun said softly while she was gently rocking the baby as the latter slowly calmed down and stopped crying.

Anna.

Her, or rather _their_ parents had chosen that name the month before, along with Haakon in case it had been a boy. Having a name, two possible names, for the unborn child had made the situation feel much more real back then. But now that name had a face, and Elsa couldn't believe how shocked she was at seeing it, how surreal the whole situation seemed, as if all the talks about the coming baby were a dream that suddenly turned real without previous warning.

She had a little sister. Anna.

Elsa knelt on the floor beside the bed her parents were on, resting her left arm on said bed to brace her weight as she leaned forward to take a closer look at the baby, at Anna. She was so small, she looked like a doll, and Elsa couldn't hold back her right hand from reaching out and gently running the back of a finger over the soft, smooth skin of her cheek.

"Hello Anna," she whispered quietly. "I'm Elsa."

She was so enraptured by the sight of her baby sister, she completely missed their parent's soft looks and smiles as they watched the first interaction between their two daughters. She did not miss, however, when their breaths stopped, along with her own, when a pair of unfocused teal eyes opened and started looking around curiously.

Anna did not seem to be looking at anything in particular, or maybe she was looking at everything, they couldn't really tell where the newborn's attention was. That however became a little clearer soon after, when a tiny little hand rose and closed around Elsa's finger, which had still been caressing the baby's soft cheek, and Anna turned her head toward it before latching on the fingertip with her mouth and she started sucking on it.

"Ah…" Elsa was at a loss on what to do and hearing both of her -their- parents snort at her predicament provided no assistance.

"Oh dear, don't you think this situation is ironic? Our Elsa has little Anna wrapped around her finger, but I wager that soon enough it will be the opposite, with Anna having her big sister wrapped around her little finger," Idun said tiredly chuckling at her own joke.

Elsa glanced at her father, who subtly rolled his eyes at his wife's antics, although he wasn't subtle enough judging by the latter's huff and subsequent pout direct at both him and their elder daughter.

"I hope you'll get my sense of humor little one," the queen said looking down at the baby in her arms. "Heaven forbid I have to deal with another genteel prig in this family." Her remark earned her a squeal of indignation from her husband, which just made her roll her own eyes in turn.

The blonde princess, however, was too busy trying to get back her finger from her baby sister's unrelenting hold to pay attention to their parent's playful banter. When the king turned to her for support, as his firstborn and him were of remarkably similar disposition, he noticed her fruitless efforts to free herself.

"What's the problem, Elsa?" her father asked, his eyes now dancing with humor. "Is our little Anna too strong for you that you cannot escape her fearsome grasp?" he asked while stealing a glance at Idun, obviously making an effort to show his wife how he could also be funny if he put his mind to it.

"Help me?" Elsa pleadingly asked, looking up from her trapped finger. "I don't want to pull too strongly, her hand is so small… I'm afraid I'll hurt her."

The blonde's admission brought a new smile to the queen's face and she rose a hand to rest it upon her eldest daughter cheek in a loving caress. "You'll be a wonderful sister, Elsa," she spoke with absolute certainty and watery eyes, which made the young girl blush brightly and avert her eyes mumbling something that might have been along the lines of how she'd try her best.

Both parents exchanged a look before the Agdar took pity on his eldest and gently pried Anna's fingers open, giving Elsa back her finger but also causing the little one to pout and make unhappy sounds. He quickly remedied the situation by taking her in his arms, rocking her in them for the first time as he moved to the crib beside the bed which had been prepared for her. Idun just watched him, letting out a content but also tired sigh as she closed her eyes. She would have liked to hold her newborn a little more, possibly till the end of time, but sleeping seemed like a very good option too.

"Will you be alright?" Elsa asked her mother taking hold of her hand.

"Yes," she answered squeezing her daughter's hand back without opening her eyes. "I just need to rest for a little while."

"I'll tell Gerda to come and keep an eye on both of you as you rest," Agdar said coming back from tucking Anna in. He bent down to lovingly kiss his wife's forehead before he straightened up and rested an hand on Elsa's shoulder. "Come Elsa, we have a joyous announcement to make while your mother and sister get their well-deserved rest."

The blonde nodded and, after one last goodbye to her mother and a look toward her sister, she followed her father out. She stood beside him as he instructed Gerda and an handful of other servants to take care of Idun and Anna until he came back, then walked with him as he was making his way to inform his council and to write an official announcement to give the happy news to the kingdom at large.

Throughout all that, however, she remained somewhat dazed and distracted. Blue eyes went to a pale hand as the latter clenched and unclenched, the memory of that incredibly small hand's unrelenting grasp was something the elder princess just could not get over, it was breathtaking. She was glad Anna had not seemed to notice any unpleasant coldness about her hand judging by her unwillingness to let her finger go, and that she had managed to hold back her magic throughout the whole ordeal.

"Do you think she'll have powers like me?" Elsa's thoughts came out of her lips before she could really think them through.

Agdar, after a quick glance around the corridor to ensure they were alone, turned back to her to answer, "It's too early to say. I mean, it's a possibility, but if she has they shouldn't be noticeable until she's at least one year old. You gave your mother and I quite the scare when you froze over your cake when blowing on your candle." He chuckled at the memory. His elder daughter was a beautiful young woman now, but she had been so adorable when she was that small, and to think he had another baby girl to coddle now…

"I hope they won't give her the same problems as me, if she has any," Elsa said with a slight frown.

It had happened five years before, when she was ten, her powers had had a sudden violent growth spurt, going haywire for a while. Luckily, there were no major incidents, but hiding them had been especially difficult when the temperature in the room she was in kept dropping dramatically without her realizing it, or when she accidentally froze whatever she touched. It had been frustrating for Elsa, but eventually, even as her powers kept gradually growing, she managed to get a hang on how to prevent such messes or, when she couldn't do that, to thaw the ice and snow trailing after her.

"Don't worry about that now, Elsa," the king said gently. "Besides, if that comes to pass, she'll have you to help her," he added with a proud smile.

"Yes. Yes, she will," she responded meeting his eyes with determination shining in hers. "I'll help her, and not just in case she has powers or not, but with anything and everything. She's my baby sister and I'll protect her and take care of her and be there for her, always. I promise."

As soon as she pronounced those words, Elsa was engulfed in a hug by her father.

"I know you will," he said in a voice broken by emotion before he let her go. "Let's go now, I want to get back to your mother and sister as soon as we can."

Once again, Elsa simply nodded and followed him, sharing his sentiments.

As they had predicted, in the next few days the announcement about Anna's birth was met with much rejoicing in the whole kingdom as the news travelled far and fast. Their subjects didn't hesitate to take advantage of the occasion to have fun by starting a fair and throwing parties to celebrate their newborn princess. Arendelle's capital became an amalgam of music, games, food and colorful banners.

The celebrated princess herself and the royal family, however, remained in the castle, busy with running the kingdom and taking care of their most recent addition. The queen in particular had been looking more and more tired as lack of sleep was taking its toll on her, since Anna loudly required her presence at all times of day and night. The king, while sharing his wife's erratic and interrupted sleep at night, managed to catch some sleep during the day when he was supposedly working in his office. On the other hand, Elsa wasn't even roused by her sister's nocturne calls since her room was farther down the hall and distant enough that she didn't hear her.

That was why, almost a week after Anna's birth, Elsa and Agdar had decided to take a break from their duty and studying respectively, to spend some time with the queen and the baby in an attempt to help.

When they went into the room, it was actually one of the rare times when Anna was sleeping peacefully. Agdar quietly dismissed the maid who was looking after the queen and princess, careful not to make loud noises and disturb his baby girl's sleep, and Elsa moved to sit on a chair beside the couch her mother was occupying just as silently.

"Hey sweetie, how is your studying coming along?" Idun asked smiling tiredly at her.

"It is going well," she answered folding her hands on her lap. "I've been going over past report about floods in the eastern region, how they affected not only the farm production but also commerce since most roads became impracticable."

"It sounds… intere-e-esting," the elder woman said yawning while she was saying the last word.

Agdar, who in the meantime had sat down at his wife's side and taken her hand into his, chuckled at her. "Ah, the end-of-summer floods. You better commit those reports to memory because I can guarantee you'll have to deal with the same thing every year."

Elsa hummed her acquiescence but frowned at those words. "That's a real shame, though, with all the money we lose because of both the damages and the constant repairs, we could have built a new embankment in five years at most."

"An embankment?" the king repeated looking at his heiress with a look that was both surprised and calculative. "Yes… Yes, that's a splendid idea!"

"Huh?" the blonde tilted her head with a confused expression.

"Of course! At first the floods happened only rarely, when I was your age I had seen them happen only twice," the king continued. "But now that they're happening every year, building an embankment is the less costly solution after all. We have enough money in the royal coffers, and as you said it'll repay itself in five years at most, and every year after that it will mean increased incomes. Besides this will definitely help the farmers, traders and all the villages of the region!"

"And neither you, nor your gathering of decrepit old relics you call advisors, thought of it before?" Idun asked raising an eyebrow at him.

"Well…" he said running a hand through his hair in a nervous gesture Elsa recognized as something she herself inherited from him. "As I said they didn't use to be so common and I suppose we are just used to simply patch everything up afterwards. Maybe we do need a fresh perspective on some matters…" he trailed off looking at his blonde daughter speculatively. "You should start regularly coming to our meetings, Elsa. As I said, we could use a new perspective, besides it'll prepare you for the fut-"

Agdar's words were cut off by a shrill cry raising from the crib, announcing Arendelle's second princess awakening from her nap, shortly followed by the queen's groan.

"I've fed her less than five minutes ago, she can't be hungry. Maybe she needs changing," she said in an exhausted voice.

While it was true that she had many maids at her back and call and could have had a wet nurse take care of feeding her baby, Idun wanted to take care of her children herself. She had taken care of Elsa when she had been a baby and she was determined to take care of Anna now. She firmly believed it helped in making them closer as family.

"I'll see to it," Agdar said standing up.

"Thanks dear. Show Elsa how it's done, she might need to learn that too, for her future," the queen said in a teasing voice.

"What? I don't… that's…" the blonde sputtered as her usually pale face rapidly gained color and turned redder and redder, until she finally gave up and quickly followed her father to the crib, her mother's laughter making her pout indignantly.

As it turned out, however, Anna did not need to be changed. An attempt to feed her was met with a predictable refusal. Both of their parents held her for a while, trying to calm her down by rocking her with no success. Elsa was holding her at the moment, walking back and forth along the room and rocking her, but her attempt was meeting similar unsatisfactory results.

"Try humming a song, sometimes it works," Idun suggested rubbing her forehead.

"I did that already, but she's just not calming down," Elsa answered, starting to feel somewhat worried about her baby sister. "Are you sure she isn't sick?"

"She doesn't have a fever or anything. It's more likely she is just bored and wanting attention, try to entertain her," Agdar responded, waving a toy over Anna, who however ignored him and continued her wailing.

"She's ignoring her toys and she doesn't want a lullaby, I don't know what else I could do," the blonde said frustrated by how useless she was starting to feel. "I have snow magic," she said waving a hand and letting some snowflakes appear in a feeble white-blue light to demonstrate her point, "not the power to make miracles!"

Her words were met with silence. Too much silence.

Three pairs of eyes went to the wide teal ones of a awestruck baby who had suddenly stopped crying. There was a pause of a few seconds before Anna's face scrunched up and let out a small whine as if she was about to start crying again.

"Elsa," Idun started, but she didn't need to.

Before her mother could even finish to say her name, Elsa had already raised her hand and called on her magic, making a sparkle of white and light blue light appear, soon followed by a few snowflakes she directed to hover above her baby sister, who watched the light show enraptured and let out the most adorable cooing sound. It melted her big sister's heart, in fact, Elsa suddenly noticed that, for the first time in her life, she actually had to concentrate a bit to keep her magic up. She made a mental note of the strange phenomenon but decided she couldn't think about it when Anna was squealing in delight and reaching out with her hand as if trying to catch the pretty light above her.

"So, apparently you can make miracles," Idun said in between amusement and disbelief.

Her blonde daughter nodded numbly without looking up from Anna's expression of joy, a loving smile pulling at her lips as she kept entertaining her by moving her snowflakes in random patterns.

"Well, since we now know you can keep Anna from crying and make her happy, I'll leave her to you for a while. I really need to catch up on some sleep," the queen declared standing up and moving to the door.

"Wait, what?" Elsa said looking up from the armful of squealing baby she was carrying.

"I'm going to keep company to your mother," Agdar said walking after her. Seeing his daughter's panicking expression, however, he took pity on her and offered her some reprieve with his parting words. "I'm going to tell Gerda to come, she can help you if you need anything and you will still be able to do that since she knows," he said nodding toward her magic show.

When he closed the door behind him, Elsa sat down on a couch and adjusted her hold on her squirming little sister, who had still been reaching out with her impossibly cute, tiny hands toward the hovering snowflakes and the movement made it possible for her to grab one. For a moment Elsa was afraid the cold would upset Anna and make her start crying again but to her surprise her baby sister giggled happily.

The blonde couldn't help herself and leaned down to lay a gentle, light kiss on her forehead.

"So you like snow, don't you Anna?" she whispered. "I'm glad. When you grow up a bit, we're going to play in it, we can slide down a snow hill, throw snowballs or even build a snowman. Big sister's promise." She finished with a very lightly tap on Anna's nose with her fingertip.

She should have foreseen it when Anna grabbed it in her small hand and brought it to her mouth to start sucking on it. They remained like that until Gerda arrived to rescue her but not before she got a good laugh at her.

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I haven't written in a long time, so feedback is appreciated. Is there too much description, enough narration, needs more dialogues? Let me know.


	2. Milestones

**Chapter 2: Milestones**

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Life for the average citizen in Arendelle wasn't much different after the birth of the second princess; once the celebrations ended, everyone had simply gone back to their lives and routine. For the castle staff and the royal family, however, things had very much changed, especially during princess Anna's first year of life when every day seemed to give them a new reason to rejoice. Or fear.

One such occasion happened one afternoon, just before dinner, on a rare time when the whole royal family was relaxing together in the solar. Idun and Elsa were drinking tea and listening to Agdar's recounts of the latest happenings in the kingdom as discussed in the council, while Anna was sitting on the carpet, playing with a doll.

The doll in question was actually one of a pair made to resemble the two princesses of Arendelle. The one in her hands at the time was the Anna-doll, while the Elsa-doll had somehow ended up across the carpet. It just so happened that Anna-doll, much like the real Anna, really liked her sister, so at some point during her game the small princess looked around for Elsa-doll, determined to reunite them.

When Anna spotted it out of her reach, her first action was to look toward her mama, but she wasn't paying attention to her, as she was deeply engaged in conversation with papa and sis. Anna pouted and almost called out to her, but then she decided to tackle the problem herself.

She had seen all the people going around on their own legs, walking, and that day she decided she wanted to try it out herself. Besides, walking seemed like a good thing to learn to do: there were so many places she wanted to explore and she couldn't do that by crawling as her mama, sis and nannies were all too fast in catching her and carrying her back to her room when she tried.

With a determined push, Anna tried to get on her feet but she must have put too much force because she lost her balance and she ended up falling face first on the carpet.

There was a weird sound, like a choked whimper followed by a shushing noise coming from the couches, but when she looked Anna only saw her parents and sister still talking among themselves. Elsa's face was hidden behind a book, her mama was drinking tea and her papa was rubbing his leg. She huffed, half disappointed none of them would rush to her help, half relieved they didn't see her failed attempt, and turned her attention back to her efforts on learning to walk.

Anna brought her arms forward and this time pushed herself up gradually until she found herself with her weight held up by both her hands and feet, then, with a final push, she was finally standing on wobbly legs. A wide, triumphant grin split her face and, after another peek at the adults in the room to check that they were still not looking at her, Anna fixed her eyes on the Elsa-doll and took a step. She almost fell down again but managed to remain upright and took a second, careful step. She totally got it, she thought proudly.

After a few minutes her perilous walk across the carpet ended as she reached her destination and plopped down on her bum to grab her Elsa-doll and finally play with her. However, no sooner had she grabbed the doll, that she was grabbed herself under her armpits and lifted into the air by two big hands, making her squeak in surprise.

"You can walk, my little princess, I'm so proud!" Her papa twirled her around as he laughed.

Anna blinked at him and then glanced at her mama and sis, both of whom were smiling widely at her. It looked like the three had been keeping an eye on her after all, but their obvious happiness was what mattered the most and made Anna herself happy, as she clapped and cheered along.

Soon enough, however, the happiness for her achievement was followed by the realization that peaceful times in the castle had come to an end. From that moment on, in fact, watching after the toddler became a castle-wide effort that involved not only the royal family, but also a good portion of the staff as Anna really liked to wander off and explore, quite unlike her elder sister at that age, who used to remain in whatever room she was in.

Not to say that Elsa hadn't given her parents her fair share of scares when she was a toddler herself. Idun, much to Elsa's embarrassment, could easily recount with vivid details any and all of her eldest's rare bouts of rebelliousness, the almost entirety of which involved the blonde's worrying fascination with high places and her propensity to reach them.

She was just grateful that when Elsa had managed to get somewhere high up she was content to sit there and watch the scenery, if it had been Anna climbing up the bookcase, Idun had no doubt her little redhead would have jumped the second she reached the top. Fortunately, though, climbing was not among her youngest's talents.

What she was quickly becoming proficient in was, instead, talking.

Anna's first word, predictably enough, was "mama". Elsa hadn't been present when it happened, as she had been studying geography with her tutor, and neither had their father, who had been reviewing some tax chart in his study just a door away from the library she had been in. It was the most convenient and efficient place for both of them as they both had ready access to any book they might need for reference.

It was mid-afternoon, Elsa had been idly looking at the mountains drawn on the northern borders of the map of their kingdom, thinking about how their snowy peaks seemed so inviting to her and how much she'd like to climb up there and watch Arendelle from their vantage point one day, when she heard her mother barging into her father's study and call for both him and her in an excited voice.

She had quickly excused herself from her tutor and crossed the library to join her parents in the adjacent room, where she found her mother holding her sister in her arms with the biggest smile she had ever seen on her face. Looking at her father revealed he shared the same curious expression Elsa herself was probably sporting.

"Dear," he started, "what is-"

"Shush, listen here," she summarily cut him off, then looked down and cooed at the ten months old baby in her arms. "Anna, my little princess, do you know who I am? I am your…"

"Mama!" the babe answered enthusiastically, happily clapping her hands.

Elsa's mouth formed a little 'o' and her eyebrows raised in surprise. She had heard her baby sister continuous and nonsensical babble a whole lot, as the redhead was a true chatterbox, but it was the first time she actually said a real word. And from what her parents had been telling her about her own time as a baby, Anna said it a full three months earlier than the blonde had.

Pride shone in Agdar's eyes as he stepped forward and took Anna from his wife's arm into his own.

"My little princess, you're so smart. Can you say 'papa' too? Try to say papa."

Teal eyes stared quizzically at him. "Mama," she repeated, although less sure than before.

"No, no. It's papa. Pa-pa," the king explained again emphasizing the popping sound of the ps.

Anna squinted in concentration, then, with considerable effort, tried to reproduce the sound her father made. Unfortunately, what came out resembled more a raspberry than anything else and to add insult to injury, baby spit ended up all over the king's jacket.

That marked the end of Agdar's attempts to have his second born say 'papa' for that day, although he resumed his coaching the very next day and just two days after that young Anna managed to say it.

Elsa's own efforts, one the other hand, were proving much more challenging.

"I'm your sister, can you say 'sis'?" Elsa looked hopefully at the child in her arms.

"Issssshhzz" Anna apparently found those hissing sounds extremely funny and entertaining because she always giggled and clapped merrily before resuming making them, ignoring Elsa's tips on how to actually say 'sis'.

Even a whole week later, when Anna had finally said it correctly, she still reverted to making random hissing noises for her own amusement half of the times.

Elsa didn't really mind, she was smitten with her baby sister and she found anything she did adorable. Even when Anna managed to be the prime cause for the most embarrassing moments in her life, she was quick to forgive any and all infractions her baby sister might have done.

-o-o-

Elsa was in her chambers, taking a bath before lunch and after having spent the whole morning reading reports on foreign affairs. She closed her eyes with a sigh and relaxed in the warm water, so didn't see the door open, and she was so absorbed in her attempt to clear her mind, that she did not hear the pitter patter of small feet moving furtively near the bathtub she was in.

The blonde rested there like that for maybe a minute or two before she opened her eyes, only to find another pair of big, curious teal eyes very close to her, staring right back at her over the rim of the tub. She let out a very undignified scream, startled by someone standing close to her and just watching her take a bath.

"FU-" Elsa cut herself short as she almost immediately realized it was Anna who had almost scared her to death, and also noticed that her screaming had scared her little sister in turn, who had taken a step back and was looking at her wide-eye.

Thinking quickly, she came up with something to say that wouldn't teach her baby sister a kind of language which was both inappropriate for a child and unbecoming of a princess.

"Funny to see you here Anna, shouldn't you be with mama?"

Anna's attention, however, had already moved somewhere else, her eyes lighting up in delight as she stepped back next to the tub and reached in to knock on the ice which Elsa's bathwater had turned into.

Looking down, the blonde blinked in bafflement at seeing how her magic had gotten away from her, effectively immobilizing her in her bathtub without her even realizing it. On the bright side, her slip up hadn't caused any damage, and her powers meant her accidental imprisonment was easily reversible.

Elsa just thawed her water and sat up, reaching for a towel with an hand while pushing Anna back with the other to keep her from reaching into the tub and falling in the now cold water.

And that was when the door burst open.

Idun, who had been walking down the corridor looking for Anna, and Agdar, who was reviewing some book in a nearby room, had heard Elsa's scream and hurried into the bath. There were also a handmaid who was attending the queen and two guards who were respectively escorting the king and guarding the hall, all standing right behind the monarchs.

It was the redder Elsa's face had ever become, the only saving grace of the situation –and probably the only reason the guards' head didn't roll despite them only doing their duty- was that, at the time, Elsa was turned so that she was giving her back to the door and her ass was still hidden by the tub, so nothing compromising was exposed. That did not mean Elsa wasn't utterly mortified by it all.

Even as her parents hurriedly closed the door, her father's voice clearly audible as he growled at the guards to get lost and not say a word about what happened if they enjoyed breathing, the blonde turned toward Anna and actually glared at her.

Those wide, impossibly big and innocent clear eyes looking back at her, though, chipped away at her anger, and the little voice mumbling an unsure word simply shattered and replaced it with warmth and affection and love.

"Elsaaaah?"

It was the first time Anna said her sister's name and made it impossible for the blonde to be angry.

-o-o-

Time went by, more or less peacefully, and soon Anna was two years old. Her wandering off had increased in frequency and speed while her babbling had turned from nonsensical to a mix of curious questions and rants about how she thought the world worked. The most embarrassing and flattering of those theories was Anna's opinion on how the sun, the moon and the stars came to be: apparently the toddler was convinced that her mother and father were the ones making the sun rise and fall, and her big sister was the one who had hung the stars and the moon on the sky solely to make the night less dark for Anna.

Luckily, how vocal Anna was about it turned out to be an extremely good thing because, after hearing that, no one so much as batted an eye when the child went on to say her sister was magical and could make it snow whenever Anna asked her.

For her part, Elsa, now seventeen, had complete control of her powers, even if she never really tested her limits. It was simply not feasible since with but a thought she could cause a blizzard to cover the whole kingdom without getting tired in the slightest. It was as if there were no boundaries to what she could do, no limits to push through, and trying to find them would probably unleash such a storm that it wouldn't be possible to pass off as a natural occurrence.

As for her accidental slip ups, they were now practically nonexistent, only Anna managed to still elicit them when she babbled saying something unexpected or embarrassing, much to their parents amusement.

Idun felt content and completely happy with her family, yes sometimes she regretted the fact her daughters were not close enough in age that they could not really play together as children, since Elsa was pretty much an adult already, but on the other hand the two girls adored each other.

The way Anna looked at her big sister was enough to make Idun herself jealous at times, so full of love and admiration, the little princess venerated her for her magic and was also obviously fascinated by her light blonde hair which were, in the redhead's own words, just like clouds.

As for Elsa, it was plain to see she felt overwhelmed by how much Anna seemed to positively worship her. Sure her parents had always loved her, but Anna was different, the level of trust and almost reverence the little redhead had for her made her feel like she could one day actually become a good queen for Arendelle.

For the moment, though, she was still just the crown princess, and the actual queen was sitting in front of her as they both were sipping their cups of tea. It was a curious situation: since Anna's birth Idun had gradually stopped performing the duties she did as queen, which consisted mainly in shadowing and advising her husband, letting Elsa fulfill that role. Yet, since Elsa would not be a queen consort but a queen regnant when the time came, for her it was just part of her training instead of a preview of what she'll be later in life.

It was a big burden, but Idun was not worried, her firstborn had the same temperament and mentality of her husband and she was sure she would be a fine queen. At present, though, Idun was simply enjoying their time together and their shared fondness for tea as they indulged in some gossip.

"Oh, and we received a letter from Corona. It's official now, the lost princess has been found and has taken her place in court," Elsa said.

"I'm so glad for them. After eighteen years without knowing anything about her, they finally found her. I can't imagine how hard it was for the king and queen, if that happened with you or Anna…" Idun shook her head. "Well, the important thing is she's back home now."

"And not alone. Apparently she brought a man home with her, a true prince charming. Rumors are he's the one who saved her."

"Oh Elsa, you really need to learn to listen to more than just the polite court gossips," Idun said with a chuckle. "If you did then you'd have heard how that prince charming is actually not only a common man, but a former thief too."

"A thief?" the princess asked skeptically, raising an eyebrow. "Are you sure your sources are the more reliable ones? That seems just like something people would come up with to make the story more romantic."

The door suddenly swinging open interrupted their debate as a small and surprisingly loud form of childish excitement run towards them.

"Mama, mama, mama, mama!" Anna squealed while climbing on the couch to sit beside her.

"Calm down, Anna." Idun placed her cup down on the low table before her before turning her attention on her youngest. "What is it?"

"I have toes! Look!" Anna looked and pointed at her bare feet which were resting on the couch as she wiggled her toes, then turned toward her mother with her characteristic wide grin.

"Yes, Anna, you have toes, and they're very cute little toes," the queen answered with a loving smile, caressing the child's head. Then she took on a slightly more stern tone. "But where are your shoes, little lady?"

Anna's response was to scrunch up her face in an unreasonably cute expression of disgust. "Don't wanna shoes, they're ugly and boring and ugly!"

Just then, as Elsa became unable to conceal her giggles at her antics, Anna realized her big sister was there too and, with another squeal of excitement, she jumped down from the couch and ran around the table to climb on the settee Elsa was occupying in order to show off her toes once again.

"Elsiz, look, look, toes! I have toes!" She shouted mangling her name as she always did when excited.

"Oh, do you now?" Elsa played along, her eyes shining with affection and amusement as she pulled her baby sister on her lap. "And how many toes do you have?"

"Uhm…" Anna looked at her feet contemplatively.

"Let's count them together, okay?" Elsa saw their mother standing up and exchanging a few quiet words with a maid out of the corner of her eye, but continued on as she reached for Anna's little feet with an hand and tugged lightly on a toe. "One…"

"Un…" Anna repeated. The child knew her big sister wanted her to repeat after her whenever they played a counting game, it was something about knowing her numbers. Anna didn't really care that much, but Elsa smiled so wide and kissed her cheek and hugged her extra tight whenever Anna showed her she could count, which made the child happy and proud.

"Two."

"Choo"

"Three."

"Hee."

Elsa narrowed her eyes in fake irritation, poking her little sister's sides. "Say it right, honeybee."

Anna giggled and squirmed a bit before putting on a serious face –which Elsa thought was incredibly cute- and repeated, "Three."

The blonde smiled and kissed the top of her red head, then tugged on the next toe. "Four."

"For."

"Five."

"Hive."

"And now, next foot. Six."

"Sssszeezzz." Anna still loved the hissing sounds.

"Seven."

"Sssehen."

"Eight."

"Heyt."

"Nine."

"Nigh."

"Aaand, the last one, ten."

"Teh!" Anna threw up her arms, cheering.

"That's right, honeybee, you have ten toes." Elsa squeezed her and kissed her cheek.

"Count again?" Wide, hopeful teal eyes stared straight at light blue ones until Elsa had no choice but to comply.

They had counted Anna's toes four times when the maid Idun had been talking with came back into the room holding Anna's shoes.

"Alright, that's enough for today, you need to put on your shoes now, Anna," Idun said.

Anna's reply was very mature for her age. "Booooo."

Elsa snickered behind a hand which covered her mouth.

In a demonstration of the power held by an absolute monarchy, the queen of Arendelle forced her squirming daughter to bow to her demand and made her wear her shoes, unheeding her protests.

"And keep them on. No exceptions. Queen's orders." Idun fixed her with a stern look.

Anna pouted for a good ten seconds before her face lighted up as she clearly got an idea. "I'm gonna see papa," she announced before hurrying out of the room.

Elsa watched her go with a smile and reached once again for her previously discarded tea. "She's a quick learner, she must have remembered that a king technically outranks a queen," she remarked.

"Not in family matters," Idun mumbled before retaking her seat. "I hope this shoes-hating phase will be over soon. I hoped not to go through something like this again after you grew out of your own enmity towards clothes."

Elsa froze.

Elsa's tea froze too.

Horrified, the blonde princess looked at her mother as the latter smiled placidly and took a sip of her tea.

"No." Denial, denial.

"Yes. I lost count of how many servants your father had to bribe to keep their mouths shut about seeing you wobbling down the halls, naked like a worm."

Elsa left her frozen tea on the low table and hid her face in her hands, mortified.

"I remember that at first we were worried you'd get sick, but it quickly became obvious the cold didn't bother you because of your magic. On one hand it was a relief to know that you wouldn't fall ill, but on the other hand it made it that much harder to get you to wear your dresses," Idun continued unflappably.

Elsa gathered whatever she could of her scattered dignity and stood up. "If you'll excuse me, I'll go to ensure my sister doesn't get lost."

"And make sure that she hasn't thrown her shoes from the window again," Idun called after her as the blonde left the room.

-o-o-

Another year went by, Anna's third birthday came and went with only a small incident involving cake, a guard whose reflex were too slow, and a ruined tapestry; Elsa's eighteen birthday passed by similarly, with a small ball which almost ended with her father declaring war because of a noble's son asking him for her hand in what he deemed an inappropriate manner; and on both occasions it seemed like the queen of Arendelle just hung back and discreetly laughed at it all.

Elsa's education had pretty much ended, the only thing she needed at that stage was practice, and it just so happened that the perfect opportunity had presented itself in the form of a letter from Corona inviting the royal family to the wedding of princess Rapunzel.

Her parents had decided to go but, being Anna only three, she was too young to undergo the five days long journey on a ship; so it was decided that Elsa would remain back in Arendelle, looking after her sister and the kingdom, while their parents attended the royal wedding.

"It'll be only two weeks, there should be no major problem, but if anything arises I trust you to hold the castle," Agdar was saying with a smile. "Just don't lose your temper with the old pompous geezers I call my trusted advisors, alright? But don't charm them too much, otherwise they'll be all grumpy when I come back."

"Don't be ridiculous dear, I'm sure our daughter won't steal your playmates," Idun said stepping beside him in front of the gangplank leading up to their ship. She went on ignoring his frown, which looked ludicrously similar to Anna's pouts, and carefully hugged Elsa, who was holding a very sleepy Anna in her arms, and kissed both of her daughters' foreheads.

"Mhn, mama?" Anna asked rubbing one eye.

"Your father and I are leaving now, sweety. Be good for your sister, okay?"

"M'kay." Anna yawned, she was not an early riser.

As Idun moved back, Agdar stepped closer. He squeezed Elsa's shoulder with one hand and leaned down to kiss Anna's cheek. The child squirmed, she reached out to grab Agdar's moustache and pulled it. "Itchy," she grouched.

Idun snorted, only to put on an innocent face as soon as her husband turned around to look at her. "I didn't say anything."

"Of course you haven't." He raised his chin acting like the king he was. "My moustache is posh."

Idun rolled her eyes walking up the gangplank.

"It is. In fact, I was thinking of making a royal decree that every man should grow them like this. After all I am the king and I can do whatever I please," he joked following her, his eyes lighting up in amusement.

There was a moment of silence.

"No, your sense of humor is still horrible, dear." Ignoring her husband's offended sputtering, she looked down at her daughters on the pier one last time to wave goodbye.

Elsa waved back and also grabbed one of Anna's small hands to make her wave too, even if the child was sleepily nuzzling her neck in a vain attempt to go back to sleep.

Two weeks was not a long time, with some luck the kingdom would still be standing when they came back. And as for her little sister, how hard could it really be to take care of one three-year-old?

* * *

Feedback is always welcome.


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